Kohli laments India's uncompetitiveness after first Test loss
Virat Kohli lamented India's uncompetitiveness with the bat in the first innings of their comprehensive Test loss to New Zealand.
The Black Caps secured their 100th Test victory on Monday, beating India by 10 wickets in Wellington in the series opener.
India were bowled out for 165 in the first innings and 191 in the second and Kohli rued their initial effort at the Basin Reserve.
"It was probably the toss that turned out to be very important, but at the same time as a batting unit I think we take a lot of pride in being competitive and we were just not competitive enough," India captain Kohli told Sky Sport.
"I don't think we put their bowlers under enough pressure in the first innings. Anything over 220-230 then you're talking a different language and even the deficit looks much lesser if you get that score on the board and you get the last three batsmen out cheaper, which wasn't the case.
"But I think that first innings really put us behind in the game already and then that lead obviously put us under a lot of pressure which was hard to come back from."
The 10-wicket loss was 's first defeat in the ICC World Test Championship #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/FletOSBASs — ICC (@ICC) February 24, 2020
<script></script>
Also see – World Test Championship Schedule
India had New Zealand at 225-7 in their first innings, only for Kyle Jamieson (44), Colin de Grandhomme (43) and Trent Boult (38) to push the hosts to 348.
Black Caps captain Kane Williamson was delighted with the victory, with Tim Southee grabbing a five-for in the second innings.
"It was an outstanding effort over the space of four days and we know how strong this Indian team is all around the world," he said.
"The efforts that went into that first innings to put the ball in the right area for long periods of time and I think that with the bat to get what was a very competitive total on a surface that I thought was a really good one that offered throughout the whole match, and the lower-order runs are really important to try and get a little bit of a lead.
"As we saw that if you did pick up a wicket you could get a couple so an outstanding all-round team effort."
The second and final Test starts in Christchurch on Saturday.